Secretary General Of ASEAN Says Regional Efforts Are Needed To Handle Human Trafficking

JAKARTA - Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Kao Kim Hour emphasized the need for regional efforts to deal with cases of human trafficking, which is currently occurring in the Southeast Asia region due to technological abuse. Recognizing the importance of joint efforts in overcoming the issue, ASEAN leaders released a Declaration on the Eradication of Human Trafficking due to Technology Abuse in the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, last week. Of course, the attention of leaders (ASEAN) is to protect their citizens from being exploited in criminal acts due to technology abuse," Kao said after briefing foreign representatives quoted by ANTARA, Monday, May 15. Noting that no single country can address this issue alone, said Kao, a regional approach is urgently needed, especially through cooperation among law enforcement agencies from every ASEAN member country. I think this is quite decisive, about how we actually address this problem as a cross-border crime... and (ASEAN) leaders also agree that there is an urgent need to improve cooperation in overcoming this issue effectively,' said Kao.Tren. human trafficking cases due to technology abuse were reported almost by all ASEAN countries, although the focus of events occurred in several countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines, Laos, and Vietnam.

For this reason, the ASEAN Declaration on the Eradication of Human Trafficking due to Technology Abuse is considered important, especially as cross-border crimes are now growing in the era of the rise of technology and social media. In the declaration, ASEAN leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation and coordination in eradicating human trafficking by increasing the capacity of law enforcement and related institutions of each member country to investigate and collect data and evidence. In addition, they agreed to increase legal capacity to identify victims, detect, and try crimes, conduct joint coordinated exercises and operations, as well as joint investigations related to criminal acts of human trafficking and other transnational crimes. "The implementation will be carried out by officials who technically handle it, namely the police, immigration, cyber crimes, and others. All of this will move more coordinated because there have been fatwas," said Indonesian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah to ANTARA, last week. Indonesian President Joko Widodo previously emphasized that eradication of human trafficking must be followed up and he invited ASEAN countries to take firm action against the main actors.